Minimally invasive techniques and instruments for placement of intraluminal medical devices have developed over recent years. A wide variety of treatment devices that utilize minimally invasive technology has been developed and includes stents, stent grafts, occlusion devices, infusion catheters and the like. Minimally invasive intravascular devices have especially become popular with the introduction of coronary stents to the U.S. market in the early 1990's. Coronary and peripheral stents have been proven to provide a superior means of maintaining vessel patency, and have become widely accepted in the medical community. Furthermore, the use of stents has been extended to treat aneurysms and to provide occlusion devices, among other uses.
Typically, intraluminal medical devices, such as stents, are deployed at a point of treatment in a body vessel by a delivery device that has been directed through the body vessel. Once the intraluminal device has been deployed at the point of treatment, the delivery device is withdrawn from the vessel. Using prior art devices and methods, it is necessary to insert a second delivery device following removal of the first if deployment of an additional intraluminal device is desired. Each additional intraluminal medical device for deployment in the vessel necessitates an additional delivery device. Each additional delivery device, like the first, must be directed through the body vessel to a point of treatment, which increases the length and complexity of the procedure.
Recently, prosthetic valves that can be placed in a body vessel using minimally invasive techniques have developed in the art. These valves are designed to replace or supplement the function of incompetent natural valves. Considering the presence of multiple natural valves along the length of some body vessels, it may be necessary in some treatments to deliver multiple prosthetic valves into a single vessel. For example, some veins include multiple natural venous valves along some portions of their length. In treatments for replacing or supplementing the function of natural venous valves, such as a treatment for venous insufficiency, it may be desirable to place multiple prosthetic valves along a portion of a vein. Unfortunately, the prior art does not teach any suitable devices or methods for the delivery of multiple intraluminal medical devices without necessitating withdrawal of a first delivery device from the vessel and insertion of a second delivery device into the vessel for each additional intraluminal device being delivered.
Therefore, there is a need for medical devices and methods that allow for the deployment of multiple intraluminal medical devices in a body vessel without the need for retracting a delivery device from the vessel and inserting a second delivery device into the vessel between deployments.